Stewart, Colbert Take on Tax Inversions

The hottest trend in cross-border M&A — so-called tax inversions — played a starring role on the late night comedy show circuit Wednesday night.

Both The Daily Show and Colbert Report tackled inversions — or deals where U.S. companies buy European firms to get a lower tax rate – during their opening segments.

Here’s how Stephen Colbert described tax inversions: “It’s like me adopting an African child and then claiming myself as his dependent.”

Daily Show host Jon Stewart called inversions “the business equivalent of gender reassignment. It’s a liberating procedure for companies that have been raised American but know in their hearts they’re really Irish.”

The wave of inversion deals has prompted members of Congress and the Obama administration to propose ending the so-called inversion tax loophole for corporations, and inspired calls for a broader overall of the tax code.